Snow(less)pack

Dylan Darling @DylanJDarling

Monday

Mar 12, 2018 at 12:01 AM

Wintry weather in late February and early March wasn’t enough to raise the Western Oregon mountain snowpack to near normal.

A cycle of warm and dry weather in December, January and early February left the Cascades east of Eugene with a low snowpack, said Julie Koeberle, a snow hydrologist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Portland. Recent snowy weather in higher elevations has helped, but as of Friday the Willamette Basin snowpack still was only 66 percent of normal. This time last year, the basin’s snowpack was at 154 percent.

Spring starts March 20, and the window to receive more mountain snow is closing fast. “Once we start moving into March, we don’t have much time left,” Koeberle said, “but we have some.”

Federal climate forecasters are calling for the next three months to be cooler than average in much of Oregon, she said, which might result in some snow this spring.

“If we don’t get any more, we need to keep what we got,” Koeberle added.

Snowpack is natural water storage. As it melts, snow feeds water into rivers, lakes and aquifers. In some parts of Oregon, such as the Klamath Basin, snowpack serves as the primary reserve of water.

But in the Eugene area and Western Oregon, snowmelt and rainfall fill reservoirs. So, a slim snowpack must combine with little precipitation and low reservoirs for water supply to be affected.

“That is when you really would notice it,” Koeberle said, “when you have the trifecta of low water conditions.”

Eugene pulls municipal water from the McKenzie River. Natural underground water storage and reservoirs, including Cougar Lake, upstream of Eugene prevent a skimpy snowpack from creating a city water shortage, said Joe Harwood, spokesman for the Eugene Water & Electric Board.

“One bad snow year won’t have a dramatic effect on the flow of the McKenzie,” he said.

But ski resorts rely on snow, and not enough fell at Willamette Pass ski area for it to stay open this season. “We just didn’t receive the snow this year,” said Tim Wiper, who owns Willamette Pass Resort.

The ski area off Highway 58 about 69 miles southeast of Eugene was only open for three days in early February, he said. “The intent at the time was that we would continue to be open, but, instead, the weather turned the other direction. It basically got warm and rained.”

Willamette Pass was open throughout the 2016-17 season, when snow was more plentiful. Storm patterns this season have brought more snow to Hoodoo Ski Area, 86 miles northeast of Eugene along Highway 20, and the resort has been open regularly during the past three months.

The lack of snow at Willamette Pass likely means less travelers have passed through or stopped in Oakridge this winter, said Hal Lane, owner of Big Mountain Pizza. But he didn’t see much impact on his business, which has been open for 16 years along Highway 58 in Oakridge.

“We just remodeled, and I think that kind of helped us a little bit,” he said.

The weather and dearth of visitors in town delayed Su Stella from opening her new business, the Oakridge Welcome Cottage, until this past weekend. Her business offers free visitor information and sells Oregon crafts, art and souvenirs in the 10-by-12-foot shop along Highway 58.